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Back to a “Vose Favorite” recipe – this is my great-grandma Esther’s recipe…one of my holiday favorites. We have this bread at Christmas and Easter, almost every year. It’s always a hit – I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t like it (at least in my family). You can see the recipe card has gotten some use over the years!

It’s quick and simple to whip up too, usually made the night before the day of the ‘big meal’.

Ingredients: (Makes 2 loaves)

1 package of Duncan Hines lemon cake mix (this is the brand we usually use, but I’m sure any brand would do…as you can see it was Betty Crocker this time)

1 package of instant lemon pudding (make sure it’s instant!)

4 eggs (yes, 4)

1 cup of hot water (not warm, not scalding, but hot)

1/2 cup Crisco oil (I used vegetable oil and you could too…unless you’re really into Crisco.)

Preheat that oven to 350 and then locate your hand mixer or if you’re extra special, electric mixer. (Again, very very very very jealous if you have the latter.) You are going to mix up everything (yes, even the nuts).

You’re going to mix everything for 4 minutes. Little arm workout in for those of us without the fancy schmancy electric mixer. (I had to find a bigger bowl because I was a moron and used a little, small one. Mom kindly suggested I use a bigger bowl to mix in. She’s so smart.)

Grab your two pans and spray them with Pam or rub them down with vegetable oil. Sprinkle flour into the pans and get all sides and the bottom coated in flour.

Pour your batter evenly amongst the two pans…even if you have two pans that aren’t quite the same size, like me. You want everything to cook evenly in the oven!

Try to restrain yourself from taste testing the batter….it’s soooooo tasty. But there are raw eggs in there, so it’s probably not a good idea.

Put the timer on 40 minutes, pulling the bread out to test for doneness at that time. It may need a few more minutes if your toothpick/wooden skewer/other doneness-testing device doesn’t come out clean from the top of the bread.

Here’s before the oven:

Once your breads are done, let them cool for a few minutes in the pans. Then gently slide them out to cool on a wire cooling rack or cutting board to finish cooling completely.

Here’s a slice, cooled and ready to be enjoyed. This is a perfect bread for holidays – easy to make ahead of time and it seems somewhat fancy, which is ideal for a festive occasion! It’s also extremely good to boot. Just sayin. 🙂

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So, I preface this post with this – I’m not a great baker. I for some reason have more success with the ‘cooking’ end than the ‘baking’ end of culinary abilities. Nonetheless, I’m determined to change that! I’ve dabbled in cakes and cookies but one thing I want, no DESIRE to become good at is bread making. Maybe it’s the kneading thing or that it’s just fun to watch rise. Or that it smells divine when it’s baking. I even loved play-doh as a kid (ask my mom!) and I think it’s all about me, deep down, wanting to be a master of bread.

Ok, that’s a bit extreme. Either way, I’m trying to attempt some variations of breads to see what I like, what’s fun to make etc. This past weekend, while I had the lasagna simmering on the stove, I attempted to make Rosemary bread. I found this recipe on pinterest.com which took me to the recipe I used on a great blog: A Hint of Honey. I can’t wait to peruse the blog for other tasty recipes!

This was a great bread recipe for a newbie like me – not a lot of steps but still kneading fun involved. 🙂 I modified the recipe a bit, but see A Hint of Honey for the original recipe and other delicious ideas.

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread:

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (not scalding hot but fairly warm)

1 Tbsp. cane sugar

2 tsp. active dry yeast (if you’re like me and get the packets, you’ll have a bit left over, 1/4 tsp to be exact)

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped or 2 tsp. dried (I only had dried, but LOVE rosemary and decided to use 2 Tbsp anyway. Up to you!)

1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning (or pinch of each ground garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil) (I went with her suggested concoction and it turned out great, as an FYI)

In a large bowl, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. To a new bread maker, this process allows the yeast to ‘proof’. For those that know all about breads, I’m sorry I didn’t know about this term. I’m now more educated.

Stir in the salt, rosemary, seasonings, olive oil, and whole wheat flour. I didn’t mix it all the way in, just enough to have the flour and liquid start to mix together. Then, add in the bread flour and stir until it starts to come together. Mine came together in many little balls but it’s supposed to come together in one larger ball. Either way, now it’s time for FUN! Let’s knead…

Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes. Yes, I know, you want to knead for 10 minutes. I too had to cut myself off from kneading. You’ll survive. If the dough becomes sticky, add in more flour to the dough or your heads, or both! It shouldn’t be sticky, but smooth when you’re all done.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl; cover (I used a clean kitchen towel for this); and let rise until (about) doubled in size. This step takes about an hour. If you’re making the lovely lasagna from my post a few days ago, this gives you time to continue work on that. Or drink a glass of wine. Or watch some Netflix. I may have done all three.

Now, more kneading fun, well, just punching. Punch down the dough and form it into a round loaf. I then placed my load on a pizza pan sprinkled with bread flour. The original recipe also states you can place the dough on a flour dusted pizza peel or parchment paper. Whatever is in your kitchen should be able to work. Again, cover that baby up and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes this time around

At this time, hopefully your lasagna (or other items in the oven, if there are any) are out and you can turn the head to 400 F. The recipe suggests to preheat and bake on a pizza stone, an item lacking in my kitchen. I simply warmed up my pizza pan (moved the dough to a new, floured spot while this preheat was happening.) Once the dough has risen, brush that baby with the egg wash and with a hearty helping of dried rosemary.

Bake on preheated stone (or for those with less cooking items at their fingertips, a preheated pizza pan) for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. I did not tap mine, but it was golden brown and looked/tasted done to me.

This recipe makes one, lovely, round load of glorious smelling bread. It also goes FABULOUSLY with lasagna. Just saying.